Before you ask any questions. Yes, I'm still working on Saints or Sinners, just not right now. With November upon us it also means that NaNoWriMo is with us as well. This is my story. Although its not really legit. It's White Knight Chronicles retold with a twist. I've changed lore, I'm in the process of writing a matching Codex for my own benefit. Even if you haven't played the game, this story is still pretty cool, according to my editor.
It also proves how much I love the Eidolons. I'm working on this day in and out until it's completion. Afterwards I'll return to Saints or Sinners.
They say that everything that happens to you is determined by fate. Even faced with an impossible decision, the choices you make are not decided by you but instead by the gods. Will fate always be cruel to mankind as one is raised to simply believe?
By doing the impossible, fate will change.
Wars transcend time.
The Eidolon Knights sleep no more.
They had been riding for days; not much longer now. She smiled softly before adjusting her glasses as they had fallen to the edge of her nose. Flinging her hair over her shoulder, she pulled back on the reigns of her Chocobo when the lead rider came to a stop at the peak of a cliff. She watched as he jumped off the saddle of his Chocobo, the yellow bird ruffled his feathers and looked relieved to be free of the burden. She watched as the rider's heavy footfalls brought him to the edge where the Chocobo wouldn't dare to tread.
"Eden Prime." he muttered, his voice deep and echoing throughout the closed helmet. Slowly, he turned back to her. "Jihl, is your team prepared for tonight?" he asked, the glowing eyes of the helmet laying upon her. She shivered slightly, having never gotten used to the General's glare.
"Yes sir, General Garland, sir." Jihl muttered. While the plan was not of her creation, it would be enough to get her and the squad through the gates of Eden and in turn get General Garland into the walls of Eden's Castle. He looked upon the settlement that was towards the north. A low chuckle started to echo throughout the group.
"We lay siege on Eden Prime tonight."
King Farron smiled softly as he watched his daughter off in the far distance. He could still remember her those years ago when she was young and innocent. Now on the day of her nineteenth birthday, he had this feeling that things were about to change for the young princess. Good or bad, he didn't know.
"My Lord."
The king slowly turned around, seeing his Guards' Captain standing at a firm salute behind him. Smiling he waved him off.
"No need to be so formal my dear Noel, we're family when no one is around."
"My Lord-"
"Father…" King Farron cut off Noel, the young man blushed slightly and cleared his throat.
"Father, there is a traveling circus troupe outside gate. They claim that they are here for the celebration of Princess Serah's birthday." Noel started slowly, as if he didn't want to offend his father figure. "Shall I send them away?"
A frown graced King Farron's lips as he looked in the general direction of the main gates. A circus visiting the very day of his daughter's birthday? The timing seemed perfect, almost too perfect. He looked back at Noel and crossed his arms as he mulled over the security implications in his head. There wasn't a single soul in Eden Prime, or all of Gran Pulse, who didn't know of the young Princess Serah so it only made sense.
"Let them in but do not let them in the inner wall of Eden. If they do come with malicious intent, we can force them out quickly."
"It will be done." Noel quickly turned on heel and walked briskly away, his plate armour and chain mail clanging along with each step that brightened the smile on King Farron's face. Noel Kreiss was a young boy when he came to him, beaten and battered. He had found the late Queen Brandford's necklace after she had lost it. He could still remember that day, clear as crystal. He had told the boy he could grant him anything that he pleased, food, money, lodging. All he wanted was to serve his King. Of course, neither he nor his wife would have any of that, which lead to their current situation. He wouldn't want it to be any different.
His attention was redirected when he heard the door open once more. His only daughter and her maid slowly walked in. Laughing lightly, he turned to her and opened his arms wide. A smile graced his daughter's lips as she ran to him for a hug.
"My daughter." he whispered holding her close. Serah never said a word. The King never frowned however, knowing that his daughter had fallen mute those years ago when his wife had passed on. "Nineteen years old, oh how the time flies." he started, she never said anything in return. "I still remember the day…" he paused, but Serah never said a word. "Then the day your mother died, oh how things certainly have changed." he stood up slowly. "Today will be a real treat for you, I hope you're looking forward for tonight."
Serah nodded softly.
"Snow! You god damn fucking useless fucking tit!" The owner of Highwind Wines, Cid Highwind, barked the moment a young blond opened the doors to the store. "You're late! Again! I had to teach the fuckin' new kid on my own! You know how that slows down business?"
"Like we get any first thing in the morning." Snow muttered as he ran his hand through his messy hair. "Cid, why did you want me in this early? The party is tonight."
"Yes! I fuckin' well know that Princess Serah's bloody birthday is tonight! Who fuckin' doesn't know you fuckwit?" Cid barked, spitting in Snow's face. The young man had to wonder how Cid kept his clients in the first place. "My order from Bresha never came in last night so I want you and the new kid," he pointed over his shoulder roughly at the white haired boy standing in the corner by the crates "To go to fuckin' Bresha and see WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY FUCKING ORDER FOR TONIGHT!"
Snow groaned slightly, still trying to figure out how he grew up the way he did. Not with foul mouth Cid Highwind as a foster father. He looked at the new kid then back at Cid. Slowly he moved his way to the back of the store and gathered his equipment so he could easily travel Bresha Plains. Oh how the man who named the lands of Eden Prime was terribly unoriginal. The new kid followed him.
"I'm Hope, Hope Estheim." Hope introduced himself slowly, slightly nervous. Snow bit back a chuckle. "I'm Snow Villers, and that old man there is my father. Not my real father, but… well you know." he waved it off as Cid kept swearing on in the background. Hope chuckled softly while shaking his head. "So, Hope, you a good fighter or anything?" he asked, checking his bags. "While Bresha Plains are rather calm, the odd beast does tend to attack."
"Mostly magics." Hope muttered softly. "I have a boomerang." He patted the pouch on his thigh in pride as Snow smirked at him while pulling on a large ankle length overcoat and a pair of gloves. He tested them by flexing his hands. "Why are you acting like we're going to war? It's just Bresha Village." Hope looked away quickly and Snow barked a laugh.
"I like a good adventure, even if it's small, gotta treat it like it's a big one," he spun and grinned at Hope, "otherwise life will be one big boring story, where is the fun in that?"
"So you make it fun?"
"Not like I run head first into danger or anything." Snow was quickly out the front door, leaving Hope where he was. The young boy groaned.
"Why did I apply for this job?" he groaned before chasing after Snow.
Slowly he weaved through the crowd. He kept his face covered by his traveling cloak and his hands on the two pistols strapped to his thighs. Hopefully the guardsmen would just see him as a raggedy traveller and pay him no heed. The only problem was that Eden was renowned for their Guard and their Guards' Captain. Just had to hope.
"Hey! You!"
Crap.
Slowly, he made is way over to the guard that had called him out. The guard looked unimpressed, at least that's what he could tell from underneath the full face helmet the guard wore. It was probably because of the way his arms were crossed. "I need to see your face, can you remove your hood?"
Double Crap.
Panicking quickly, he tried to think of something. What good excuse existed out there?
"Sir?"
At least the guard was polite, Eden did something right.
"I am… uh… allergic to the sun. I blow up like a tomato, not pretty, not a good impression you want." He quickly ran off, hoping that would work. The guard seemed to recoil slightly at the mere thought of it.
"Er… okay… if it's gonna be a health issue just go on ahead." The guard waved him past, he nodded in thanks and continued on his merry way.
"Marcus." he heard the other guard snap at the one who had let him through. "Are you sure that was wise? It's Princess Serah's birthday."
"An old man like him?" Marcus turned to the other guard. "I highly doubt he'll cause a problem."
The elder gentleman made sure he was a fair distance away from the guard as he looked towards the old Eden Castle. Any moment now if the prophecies were correct. He kept walking forward down the main road, or at least what he thought was the main road. He watched as villagers came and went around him. When two peculiar-looking boys walked by him, time seemed to slow down around them. He gave them a good look as the short silver haired one looked back at him. The tall blonde one was babbling too much to notice the exchange. He ripped his eyes away and continued on his way.
Yes, they were correct.
Hope looked away from the man who was looking at them funny. Frowning, he turned back to Snow who was probably trying to look thoughtful but wasn't doing all that well. Hope sighed and shook his head again, definitely wasn't going to be paid enough for this job. Highwind seemed like a good enough man, despite the mouth. Maybe he'd get lucky.
"Hey, is that a circus?" Snow asked as they slowed to a stop. A large movable structure was being towed in by a team of tamed Behemoths. Skilled jesters and costumed acrobats performed countless tricks that left one breathless. One clown managed to keep her balance on a large ball as she bounced circles around the fire jugglers. Standing up on top was a tall woman with long blonde hair. She was wearing an embroidered cream coat with white gloves. A black top hat sat upon her head as a red clown nose finished her obvious ringmaster getup. Snow took a couple steps closer in awe as he watched the woman wave and smile at the groups.
"Snow." Hope muttered. He knew that they should be heading out instead of watching the travelling circus, not if they didn't want Cid Highwind to kill them. "Snow, we should be heading out."
"Yeah… yeah…" Snow was clearly lost in thought but Hope didn't care. Quickly, he marched up in front of the older, taller man and kicked him hard in the shin, breaking him out of his trance.
"NOW!" he snapped. Snow snapped to attention.
As they quickly scuttled off, they failed to notice the ringmaster woman watching them, a dark grin appearing on her lips.
Bresha Plain is an open landscape named after the nearby village. The plain to the east of Eden was simply called Eden Plains because of Eden, they lead into the Grapa Whitewood. Hope knew that the chances of him ever exploring beyond the Whitewood were slim, extremely slim. Hope sighed again, already having lost count of his sighs since meeting Snow, as he took off down the main pathway through Bresha Plains.
"Come on Hope! You're slow!" Snow shouted a fair distance away. For a man only twenty one years old, his immaturity was astounding. Hope, at the young age of fourteen, couldn't believe the maturity difference between them, it was ridiculous.
"Are you for real? You want to runall the way to Bresha? It's a three hour walk! I'm not running!"
"Where's the fun in that!"
"What are you? Six?"
Snow stopped running, paused, turned around, and stared at Hope.
"You're no fun."
"Someone has to be the grounded one around here." He crossed his arms, feeling that this was going to be a rocky friendship. Snow didn't saw anything as he waited for Hope to catch up with him. "If you keep running off, Speedy," he emphasised the last word, "someone is going to end up dead. I don't care if it's a behemoth or a flan, I just don't want to be the one who ends up dead."
"God, you're worse than Vanille." Snow muttered, Hope, nearly two heads shorter than Snow, took a couple steps back.
"Who?"
"Vanille, friend of mine. She lives in Bresha. Gotta see if I can drag her back to the city afterwards. You know, for extra protection."
"From what? Twigs?"
Snow moped onwards.
Colonel Jihl Nabaat grumbled as she adjusted her clothing again. It was a bloody miracle. She glared at General Garland as he lumbered by, only pausing to give her a short look before poking the fake clown nose she was wearing. If he wasn't her commanding officer or wearing that ridiculous armour she would have kicked him, hard and good.
"You gotta enjoy this just as much as the imbeciles." Garland's voice echoed throughout his helmet as usual, giving it nearly a synthesised effect, an effect found in most closed helmets. Garland chuckled softly as he took a step closer to her, running his hand through her blonde hair. "Tonight is the night. Eden will fall and we'll get out hands on the Eidolon Knight's Ark."
Jihl bit her lower lip and looked away from Garland. The Eidolon Knight's Ark. A group of ancient weapons created by an Ancient Civilization to help fight the Gestahlian Empire. Now, several millennia later, with the Knights long gone; sealed away; and forgotten, the Gestahlian Empire was after them for their own personal gain.
They wanted to come back and take back the world that should have rightfully theirs those years ago. General Garland didn't care who they were or what they were. Cocoonian, Pulsian or Spirian; it didn't matter, the Gestahlian Empire just needed to rule all.
While Jihl didn't quite agree with such views, she wasn't someone who could easily betray her upbringing.
Even if she needed to make a fool out of herself to get what the General wanted.
Tonight was going to be a long night.
"Snow! There you are!" a petite redhead shouted across Bresha as she stormed up to the duo. "You're late!"
"Not this again." Snow groaned while the redhead poked him in the chest. Hope assumed the young girl was Vanille.
"You were supposed to be here two hours ago mister, why are you late?"
"Something happened…"
"Something?"
"Yea… something…"
"You slept in again!" Vanille shouted before realizing Hope was standing right there. She turned to him, flashed the cutest smile he had ever seen and quickly stated in a single breath that took the young boy a couple seconds to process. "Hi I'm Vanille Dia! Nice to see Snow hasn't corrupted you yet." She then dragged the much taller man off by his ear. What a sight to see, they must be childhood friends. "The wine is all prepped and ready to go, but the driver seems to have gone and run off. Sadly, the Chocobos that pull the cart only listen to him." she placed her hands on her hips and pulled her lips into a small pout. "Biggs is useless, probably off sleeping somewhere."
Hope scratched his arm lightly before raising his hand, as if he was asking for permission to speak. Vanille looked at him once, frowned, then nodded.
"I saw someone sleeping near the main gates…" he started, Vanille quickly shouted Biggs' name and stormed off, leaving the two boys behind. "Is she always like this?" he asked Snow, the large man chuckled.
"That's what makes Vanille." Snow chuckled as he watched the redhead return pulling a man by his ear. She also had some kind of weapon folded up in her off hand. Hope already knew that Vanille was going to be tagging along, Snow didn't need to ask her.
"I'm sorry Miss Vanille!" Biggs was shouting, he had a wine bottle in his hand. A drunkard driver hauling a wagon full of wine back to Eden, amazing. Hope grumbled, if he didn't get a fair pay after today, he was quiting.
"How is the princess this eve?"
King Farron looked over his shoulder from his place on the balcony that overlooked the courtyard where he could see his daughter sitting by the fountain. He wouldn't deny anyone if they pointed out that he was an overprotective father.
"She's grown more and more beautiful with each passing day, even more so for the last ten years." King Farron sighed. "The night we lost Tina was a horrible one indeed Barthadelus." he turned to his old advisor and lifelong friend. "Young Serah hasn't spoken a word since that day, and how I wish to see a true smile on her face once more."
"Then do you think we should still hold the ball?" Barthandelus stepped forward slightly. "Princess Serah might not be ready for this."
"She wasn't ready for the war we had against Spira ten years ago! She wasn't ready to see her mother murdered before her!" King Farron snapped suddenly. He froze moment. "Apologies Barthadelus."
"It's fine." the man muttered, raising his hand. "Queen Brandford's death was a surprise to us all, young Princess Serah was so attached to her, it's no surprise this is what had happened. However, with the Princess's heartbreaking condition, people are starting to question, why are we trying to make peace with the same people who robbed her of her mother?" he asked, King Farron glared at him.
"My wife is gone, Barthadelus, war has taken her, just as it has taken many before her. The war will not give her back. The Spirians speak our tongue, we ought to trade words with them from now on, not lives." King Farron stated, Barthadelus narrowed his eyes before they were interrupted by a guard.
"Your grace." he kneeled before the two of them, keeping his eyes down on the ground.
"What is it Lieutenant?" King Farron asked, the man looked away again.
"Archduke Braska will be arriving shortly."
"Good, see to it that he is rightfully welcomed, Lieutenant Squall."
"I shall your Grace." with that Squall had walked away, King Farron smiled softly, as Barthandelus looked at him slowly before starting to walk away too.
"I should praise you, your Honour, for letting that circus troupe in earlier today. It will be a wonderful gift for Princess Serah on this glorious day." He left, not without pausing for a moment to let a smirk grace his lips before disappearing into the castle.
Captain Noel watched his surroundings as he wandered through the city grounds. He smiled brightly as the people of Eden nodded at him, some of the men saluting him as he walked past. Slowly he made his way over to one of the posted guards. The Spirians were making their progression through the gates. Banners were being held high by foot soldiers, as various other ranked guards made up the parade. Two tamed Adamanchelids adorned in ceremonial armour flanked the group of guards who carried the Archduke's seat. Captain Noel just watched with awe.
"That is certainly a procession." The guard he was standing beside muttered, Noel bit his lower lip.
"I hope the Archduke comes with good intentions, I highly doubt I can stay long with the Spirian scum." Noel muttered as he and the guard walked forward and kneeled down, the Archduke stopping his parade and turning to the two.
"Who are you?" he asked them, his voice soft and gentle, something Noel didn't quite expect from a man such as he. Biting the tip of his tounge he spoke.
"I am Noel Kreiss of Eden, Captain of the Castle Guard. We are most honoured by your visit."
"Formalities…" Archduke Braska sighed, slightly put off by Noel's manners. "Tell me son, how is his kingship?" he asked slowly, Noel clenched his hands.
"He is doing well your Excellency."
"He is? I see… doing well you say." he paused. "If you'll excuse me." with that his group continued to move, Norel growled slightly, looking away. The guard beside him looked at him.
"Does his grace really hope to make peace with these people?"
"Peace with the Spirians? The idea is just a dream." he looked upwards at the castle. "Has the King forgotten? So soon?"
They were useless, the whole damned lot of them. The sun was already setting and they were only halfway back to Eden. Old Man Cid was going to kill them. Well… Hope looked at Snow. He'd probably kill Snow. String him up by the toes and prod at him with that old spear he saw stashed in the backroom of Highwind Wines.
"I hate Bresha Plains once the sun sets." Vanille muttered softly, crossing her arms to protect herself from the soft breeze that whistled through the open grounds. "The monsters come out, and I hear they're rather fierce."
"Oh lighten up Vanille. It's not like a Behemoth is going to climb up a cliff and just jump us for the wine." Snow joked half heartedly, but Biggs had stopped his Chocobos and was looking around wearily.
"You know, it's the Feral Behemoths that are attracted to the smell of wine… and Chocobos, definitely Chocobos." he whispered, Snow rolled his eyes and crossed his own arms.
"Behemoths aren't going to attack you. This is Bresha Plain, think about how many travellers have gone through here then think of the amount of Behemoth sightings there have been. We'll be fine." Snow tried to reassure the distressed driver, but Biggs was having none of it. It was Hope looking away towards the nearby cliffside that caught Vanille's attention.
"Hope?"
"Do Behemoths always wear leather greaves?" Hope asked slowly. "And their horns, do they look like real metal?"
"I'm not sure, why do you ask?" Vanille asked, Hope slowly lifted a trembling hand and pointed upwards.
"Cuz there is our behemoth friend." he said in a near whisper. "He doesn't look like he's just going to let us walk by either. We're going to have to fight him." Hope finished pulling out his boomerang. He could hear Snow pounding his fists together in excitement, this man was a terrible, terrible influence to be around when it came to fighting. Hope figured he wouldn't be surprised if Snow took a few steps forward and started to provoke the beast.
That's exactly what he did.
They were going to die, the whole damn lot of them. Hope watched as the Behemoth leap down the cliff like it was part of its morning walk before slowly walking towards them, standing up on its hind legs and gripping the horn on its head. Hope watched in terror as it ripped the metal slab out, revealing it to be a rather cruel looking sword as it slowly moved closer and closer to them. Snow was grinning and laughing while Vanille sounded annoyed. As if taking on a Behemoth was mere child's play to them. Sure he might be the youngest, but by far it seemed like he was the most sane.
Vanille had pulled out her rod-staff thing, he wasn't sure what it was and he was definitely not going to ask her knowing full well a woman's wrath when they're insulted. He had seen his father accidentally offend his mother on several occasions, he finally understood the term 'doghouse' now. Snow had no weapons on him, despite being the one who spend most of the time preparing for such an occasion. The young boy bit his lower lip as the Behemoth stood before the trio and releasing a full blown war. It was time to fight.
It struck out first, bringing the sword down in a strong sunder. Both Hope and Vanille quickly darted off in different directions while Snow, the larger and slower of the group jumped backwards and took the force of the blow. Vanille didn't seem to care about Snow's well being so he figured he didn't really need to either. Already, he was starting to detest the loudmouth. Calling from his pool of magic he charged an Aero spell in his hand and threw it out at the beast. It pushed the Behemoth aside slightly, not much, but enough to know that this one wasn't yet fully grown. He quickly followed up with a chain mixing between fire and wind, Vanille filling the void between attacks when he had to restart his chants. Just stay on the offensive, keep the beast on the defensive, and eventually it would fall.
Yeah, if any of them wielded a goddamned sword!
Hope quickly dove out of the way as the Behemoth swung wildly at them, no one in their small party equipped to dance with the large beast. Even then the sword user would have to be a damned dancer to keep up with it. While he and Vanille continued to lay down the fire, Snow had gotten in close and tried to beat the beast down with his fist. Hope couldn't tell if Snow was just a stupid idiot or if the Behemoth hide was as thick as merchants claimed it was but the only wear and tear he could see was through the spells.
"Stagger point." Vanille whispered and unleashed a massive Aero spell that managed to finally throw the beast off its feet. Hope's boomerang was finally thrown, the young boy already knowing the basics one needed to fight and fight well. The metal alloy of his Airwing connected with the staggered beast, and like in the books, it was enough to shatter the young beast's blade. With a roar, it fell back onto all fours trying to regain ground. Snow wasn't allowing any of that however, he charged at the beast but it jumped back, a whimper escaping through its black lips before it scampered off, knowing it was defeated and not having a desire to see it's young life ended today.
"Holy fuck that was close!" Biggs sighed, wiping the sweat off his forehead. Hope just stared at the driver as Vanille brushed by him. He could hear her calling the old drunkard a 'useless prick' under her breath.
Hope just prayed things would be smooth sailing from here on out. Folding his boomerang and pocketing it, he turned around slowly to take a look at Snow and Vanille. Both were a little winded but they would recover.
"We're going to be late now." Hope muttered, looking upwards at the setting sun. Snow shivered slightly.
"Vanille, start planning my funeral." Snow muttered as they all clambered up onto the cart and Biggs forced his Chocobo into motion. With the threat of a behemoth attack now slim to none they could afford to take the chance. They were at the city gate within minutes. The guardsmen looked rather displeased. Vanille quickly jumped off the cart and ran up to the guard, taking a small curtsy before starting.
"Highwind Wines. We sell no wine before its time." she sung. "We're here with tonight's delivery."
"Yeah, you're here three hours late!" the guard snapped. "When the kitchen went with Highwind, they expected better service."
"It's my fault." Snow and Biggs confessed at the the same time before pausing. Awkward silence. Biggs started up again. "I fell asleep on the job. If Miss Vanille and her two friends didn't find me, we would've been even later."
"So you're telling me you're unreliable."
"In all honestly, I'm just an underpaid worker."
The guard glared at Biggs before walking around the cart, inspecting the barrels that were filled with the wine.
"I guess you check out, cleared to go in." They stepped aside to let the chocobo pull the cart in. Biggs knew his way through the city and no longer needed guidance, leaving the three of them be. Hope clasped his hands together and swayed back and forth a little on the heels of his feet.
"I guess someone should go tell Mister Highwind that we're back, shouldn't we?" he asked, Snow and Vanille looked at him as if he was crazy. He stared back of them. For the first time since he had met Vanille, he had never seen her think on the same page as Snow. The blond man grinned as he adjusted the black bandanna he wore upon his head.
"Hope, there is one thing you gotta learn if you're going to be hanging out with Vanille and I." he clapped a massive hand on his shoulder, causing his knees to buckle slightly underneath the force. "We like sneaking into parties such as these."
"But…" Hope started to protest but Vanille's smile cut him off.
"We won't be long, grab some food, maybe get a glimpse of Princess Serah, see things that most commoners don't get to see, then be right out of the castle before someone notices we took some cake. The castle is large enough and there will be a lot of people, they won't notice the group of us in there." she reasoned, Hope couldn't really find a fault in her logic. He'd love to see Princess Serah up close, not many people have had the privilege to since the death of Queen Brandford ten years ago.
"Well… I guess it can't hurt." Hope muttered, nodding slightly. "Alright, I mean, what could possibly go wrong?"
A lot could go wrong in just a single hour.
The group of three looked around the castle in awe. The ballroom was as grand as people were told to believe. They watched the nobles dance as they edged around the room, trying to get to an upper floor where they wouldn't be bothered. Slowly they made their way up to the balcony, still looking around in awe. Vanille had spied something and ran off, dragging Hope along with her. Snow leaned over the balcony towards the end of the ballroom. In the distance he could see King Farron chatting away with another older gentleman sitting beside him. Then, standing to the king's left was a girl, a beautiful girl. No… a familiar girl.
"I remember…" he whispered to himself. It had to be about nine years ago, he was by the fountain in the courtyard of Eden Castle waiting for Cid Highwind. He had seen the young Princess Serah walking down the hallway, pausing at the open doors to look at him. He remember looking up from his reflection in the water and seeing her smiling at him before running at him. He had stumbled back in surprise not realizing what she wanted. She had tumbled upon him, both of them laughing. However they never got a chance to introduce themselves as the princess' maids lead her away as Cid Highwind had returned to take him home.
"What'chya lookin' at?" Vanille suddenly jumped on Snow's back, interrupting his thoughts. He growled softly as she looked in the general direction he was looking. She sighed and looked at him, "It's rude to stare at royalty you know." she muttered. Snow just grumbled.
Back near the gates, the fake travelling circus had been performing for hours now. Colonel Jihl Nabaat was starting to grow bored. All of this fake laughter and cheery demeanor was starting to make her cheeks hurt. The General had to be in position by now. He said he knew the castle well despite the fact that he had never been to Eden before. Maybe there was a mole in Eden's forces? She brought her hand down and touched the red nose that sat upon her own nose. Something seemed off about that man, maybe she should spend some time figuring that man out.
After they got the Eidolon Knight.
She smirked.
The clock tower rung.
Now it was time.
Pulling off the fake nose and hat, she threw them away before ripping her cloak off. Grinning she quickly shouted, "Alright men! Time to move out!" as she threw her jacket off, revealing her soldier's uniform underneath. Her men followed suit, pulling off their jester outfits and pulling out their weapons. Jihl pulled out her saber as her trained Behemoths broke free from the metal caravan they were towing. Jihl and her men jumped away to continue their ambush as the metal began to transform, revealing itself to be a Berserker.
"Alright men. Tonight is the Princess' coming-of-age. Let's give her the best gift we can! War strikes Eden once more!" Foot soldiers burst from the two other caravans as they pulled out a combination of guns and swords on the fleeing civilians. Jihl laid her eyes down on a hooded man and smiled, slowly prowling towards him with her saber in hand. She raised it up to strike him down but he reacted, throwing off his cloak to reveal an elder black gentleman who blocked her saber with a gun. He fired back at her but she dodged the bullet. She grinned at him as he panicked slightly, firing again at her feet. She stepped back a couple times as he threw a fire spell at her. So this man wasn't any ordinary gunslinger. She looked at him as he stepped back a couple times. He looked at her again before running in the other direction towards the castle.
So he knew…
"May I have everyone's attention please?"
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to King Farron as he raised his glass. "I'd like to give a toast to my daughter on this special day despite the tragedy that had befallen us with the death of Queen Brandford. There is not a day that goes by that I do not miss her." he paused and smiled softly. "I wish only the best for my daughter and all of Eden." he raised his glace once more as everyone else around him did. Smiling and chuckling he took a sip before sitting down. He turned to Archduke Braska and started up a new conversation with him.
From above, Snow Villers leaned against the railing as he watched Princess Serah from afar. Vanille was hanging around behind him with a slice of cake she had 'lifted' from the table. She had the tip of the fork hanging from her mouth as she savoured each portion of the cake.
"She looks sad."
Vanille sputtered slightly, taking the fork out of her mouth and swaying closer to Snow, looking over the railing at Serah as well. "They say that she hasn't spoken in ten years. Not since Spira attacked the castle. It's heartbreaking you know." she paused to take another piece of cake. "She saw a Spirian Assassin kill her mother before her, and now, years later, her father is trying to make peace with them. Yeah, I would be sad t-"
Vanille stopped when the grand doors were thrown open, an injured Templar stumbling in. The music stopped, the dancing stopped, everyone watched at the bleeding guard moved towards the King. He stumbled and fell onto his knees, looking up at the King and the Archduke.
"Your grace… a message…" he choked, Archduke Braska, unimpressed, stood up.
"This is a celebration. What the devil is it?" he snapped, the Templar looked up at him.
"A monster… a monster has attacked Eden!" he collapsed. Dead or unconscious they couldn't tell, nor had the time to check because a stone wall was blown in by a slightly battered Berserker crashing through it. Screams echoed throughout the castle as everyone panicked, seeing the enemy soldiers charge in and cut down anyone in their path. Up on the balcony, Hope rounded the corner and crashed into Vanille, making her drop what was left of her cake.
"We need to go!" he shouted, grabbing Vanille's arm and trying to lead them away. Vanille quickly turned to get Snow but the young man was already gone. They ran while Captain Noel gathered his men to lead the counterattack below.
"Do not let them through!" he shouted. "Protect your King and your Princess!" He pulled his pronged sword and dagger from his back and charged in, the others following. Blood and bodies went flying.
King Farron lead his daughter by the hand as they ran down the hallways and through the other rooms. Serah stumbled a couple times, King Farron only waiting for his daughter to recover. He heard the clanging of armour as he paused to look upwards, standing over him was a large man adorned in amazing armour. Slowly he brought himself to stand up properly as the armoured man pulled a sword from his belt. King Farron couldn't get anything out except a gurgle as he felt a piercing pain in his abdomen. The man pulled his sword back as the King fell.
Serah screamed.
"Father! No! You can't leave me!" she shouted, her first words in ten years as she ran to his side. Kneeling down beside him she cried out, tears running down her face as she touched his back. "You can't… you can't…"
"Serah…" King Farron breathed out slowly. "How nice it is… to hear your beautiful voice again. One… last time…"
"No father… no it's not… please… don't die." Serah sobbed as she balled her hands into fists. Hanging her head, she felt her father breathe his last breath beneath her. Crying, she looked upwards at the man who was still staring down at her. She watched as he raised his sword up again, preparing to end her own life. She flinched and looked away only to hear it clang against something else. Looking up she saw a blonde man blocking the sword with a dagger. He pushed the man away as he stepped back. He looked the newcomer over once before turning around and walking away. She didn't say anything as he took her by the arm, pulled her up onto her feet and finally spoke.
"Let's go, Princess."
"Archduke! Sire! Stay with me!" Captain Noel shouted as he held the Archduke of Spira close to him. He had been so caught up in the battle he hadn't noticed that the Spirians were struggling against this unknown enemy at the same time, that who they were fighting was a common enemy. Archduke Braska, a rather renowned Mage, was unable to defend himself for the long period of time required and in turn was injured. Noel found him and stayed put, watching Braska die in his arms. He slammed his fist down on the ground in defeat as he cried out.
"What about the peace treaties? Now it won't happen!"
"Captain Noel!" Noel looked up to see Squall standing above him, blood splattered and winded. He hoisted his Type-II Gunblade over his shoulder and saluted quickly.
"The King is dead." he said quickly and stiffly, like ripping off a band-aid.
Noel Kreiss' world shattered.
Left, right, left, right, right, right, she lost track, tripped over her feet, and tumbled. She cried out in surprise as the older boy turned around. Quickly he kneeled down beside her and held her by the shoulder. "Come on… I'll protect you." he whispered to her. Princess Serah looked at him, absolutely confused.
"Who are you?" she asked softly. The blonde boy smiled at her.
"Snow, Snow Villers." he said softly, she looked away.
"Why… why do you care?" she half whispered. Snow smiled. For someone who hadn't spoken in ten years, Princess Serah Farron certainly had a way with her words.
"I care for you." he paused and stumbled over his own words. "I mean, we all care about you, your kingdom loves and cares for you." He pulled her up to her feet and held her close. "We can't afford to lose you too Princess." They were interrupted when the Berserker crashed in through the wall. Snow stared at the monster in surprise as he took Serah by the hand.
"Do you trust me?" he asked quickly. Serah looked at him closely and nodded. They started to run again but they were blocked by an older dark skinned man wearing an unrecognizable green uniform jacket with a pistol in each hand. "To the cellars, quickly!" he shouted. Snow, not caring if it was a trap or not, nodded, took Serah, and ran.
"No, not the cellar… not near her." Serah muttered, but it was ignored.
"Aww man… Snow just had to go play hero didn't he?" Vanille snapped as she and Hope ran through the mess of dead and fighting soldiers of three different factions. The King was dead, the Archduke as dead, and for all they knew, both Snow and the Princess could be dead too. They threw water spells at small fires that got in their path as they tried to find a way out, only to be stopped when a large man in armor stood in their way.
"No no no…" Hope stuttered, the spell he was charging dying in his hand. The man raised his massive triangular shaped sword that had to be as tall as he. Hope closed his eyes, waiting for the end. It didn't come, instead, he felt the heat of fire whizz by his cheek. Hope opened his eyes and looked around, a newcomer was standing behind Vanille wearing a green jacket and holding a sniper rifle in his hand.
"This is no place for you." the armored soldier muttered, his eyes trained on the man. Hope watched as the dark skinned man raised his gun against the enemy soldier.
"I've heard that before," the man muttered. "but I'm not the type to listen."
"Who are you?" he asked. Hope rolled his eyes, was this really happening in the middle of a war in the burning castle?
"Just an old traveller fulfilling a single focus." he muttered, cocking his gun. "Who are you?"
"General Garland of the Gestahilan Empire." he stated, Hope's eyes opened wide. He had heard bedtime stories of General Garland when he was a child; it was more of a fairytale to make sure children continued to behave. An arrogant knight who loves chaos and destruction, immortal and a ghost. If a child was misbehaving he would come to you at night and take you away to the void.
"As I feared, you really are immortal." the man muttered as he looked at the two children. "We should run." They looked at him, distrusting. "Believe me! I'll tell you everything! If we live!"
They ran.
"Are you okay Princess?" Snow asked softly as they closed the large door that lead deep into Eden's Dungeon. Snow could tell that Serah was hesitant to be here but they didn't have much of a choice, not if they wanted to live.
"They're here too." Serah muttered, looking down the dungeon. Snow walked closer to the edge. He could see them, the enemy soldiers wandering around as if they were looking for something.
"Is there anything down here Princess?" he asked, Serah shook her head. Snow walked up to her, placing his hands down on her small shoulders. "Princess."
"The… the vault…" she muttered, "But there is nothing in there except the family treasure… and her…" she whispered. Snow took a step back.
"Are you any good with magics?" he asked her. Serah hesitated, but nodded. "Good, because I'm awful. If we're gonna make our way down to the vault we're going to have to fight them. I'll protect you, but you need to help me with healing, I'm a Sentinel, I can protect you but not myself." Serah stared at him for a moment before nodding. Snow lead the way down, the soldiers were far and few between. Snow ran ahead and snuck up behind one of the guards who was looking down. He smacked him on the back of his helmet hard enough to knock him out. He waved at Serah, indicating she should follow. She nodded, picking up her dress slightly, and moving down the steps quickly.
"Good, if we just stay quiet…" Snow stopped when he heard the clanging noise of a solider banging his sword against his shield. Villers' blood ran cold when he saw an archer taking aim. Unable to dodge in time, he took an arrow to his left shoulder. Growling, he snapped it and charged the man, swinging aimlessly with his fist before crossing his legs and spinning out in a roundhouse kick. The man stumbled back and fell into the abyss of the castle with a scream.
"The Princess is here!" the guards shouted when they noticed Serah behind Snow. The larger man grumbled as five guards surrounded them, the only ones left down here. Serah hesitantly moved to hide behind Snow's larger frame. "Stand down!"
"And let you take the princess?" Snow snapped. "I promised to protect her! I willprotect her!" He felt some of his mediocre magic charge to his fists, feeling the chill he threw a blizzard spell at the floor, freezing the men to the ground. They started to laugh because it wasn't strong enough. Snow took a step forward but Serah charged out in front, a determined look on her face.
"Blizzard!" she shouted, throwing a mighty spell at them that ended up freezing all of them to the bone. Snow stared at her.
"You killed them."
"They'll be fine." Serah muttered as she continued downwards. Snow staring at the frozen guards, wondering where this sudden streak appeared in the usually depressed princess.
"No they won't" he muttered, Serah looked over her shoulder.
"Oh… oh well." she turned away again. "The Vault is this way." she lead Snow, the two of them started walking rather slowly only to be stopped yet again when they heard a crashing sound. Both of them froze, shoulders high as they looked at each other, knowing full well what was behind them. "Run." Serah squeaked. They ran forward towards the vault. They cleared the door and made it halfway through before the stone collapsed on the Berserker, stopping it for the time being. The two of them, who were thrown forward by the collapse, slowly picked themselves off the ground.
"If I had known something like this was going to happen tonight, I would've worn something more practical." Serah grumbled, a sarcastic streak within her as well. Snow remained silent as they looked around. They slowly moved in deeper, afraid they would trigger a trap of some sort. "This is my family vault, I thought… I thought there would be more to it." she muttered as they made it to the back wall. Chained upon the wall was a suit of armour that had to be at least seven-metres tall. The armor was a combination of various shades of blue, gold and white and it carried the distinctive appearance of a female.
"Shiva…" Serah muttered. "They found her seventeen years ago when the ruins of Cocoon were finally broken into. No one knows where she came from or if there're others." Serah walked forward slightly towards the knight, as if she was reliving an old memory, but she was only three years old at the time. Snow didn't say anything as she touched the silver gloved gaunlet that rested on the pedestal before the knight. "The scholars think the Ancient Cocoonians made them, but the writing…" she brushed her fingers over the script. "It's not Cocoonian."
"Even then." Snow smirked. "If it is Cocoonian, they must have had some pretty tall soldiers."
"That is an Eidolon Knight." a new voice said as the two of them turned around, wondering how the hell this gentleman got in here. "It's more than just a mere weapon, it's one of the Goddess' Guardians turned into a weapon, we only know that it was a group of these weapons used by Cocoon back in the War of Transgression.
"A weapon…" Serah muttered. "No wonder father locked it away. To use something like this against anyone, Spira or not… it's awful."
"That is what the castle raiders are after." The elder man muttered. "If they get their hands on this, who knows what would happen to Eden Prime, no… all of Gran Pulse." He pulled out his weapons and inspected them slowly. "They cannot get their hands on this or any other Eidolon."
"You mean there are others?" Serah asked quickly. Before the older man could answer the Beserker recovered, throwing the damaged stone away and throwing Serah off her feet again. The elder man helped Serah back up onto her feet as Snow ran up to the glove.
"What are you doing boy?" he snapped at him as Snow scooped up the glove. He looked at the man.
"Well, if it's a weapon, we should use it right? We need to try otherwise we'll be dead anyway!" he threw it on.
"No! Only the worthy can wield the Eidolon!" The moment the words left his mouth a flash of bright white light absorbed him.
He woke up suddenly, scared and surprised. He wasn't in Eden Castle anymore. Instead, he found himself on a winter plain. He buried his gloved hand into the snow and brought some closer to him. It wasn't cold. He picked himself up and looked around.
"Her Providence sought nothing."
He spun around. There, floating before him, were two women. He quickly realized that they didn't look normal; besides their unusual appearance, he noticed that they were adorned in armour. Stira and Nix, their names just came to him.
"Her Providence made nothing."
"Who are you?" he asked slowly, preparing for battle. Nix, who had a wheel floating beside her, lashed out at Snow. He brought his arms up and felt the familiar Steelguard protect him from the attack before he threw the wheel back at Nix. Stira slowly floated backwards, her mouth moving.
"She but looked on, silent in Her sorrow."
Snow knew what he needed to do. Shaking his hands out he brought his hands up to protect himself as Nix lashed out with her wheel again. Snow jumped up and landed on the wheel, realizing that it was an error as his feet were taken out from underneath him. He crashed on the snow but kicked himself back up onto his feet. Stira crashed into him again, starting a physical battle as he flew off his feet again. Slowly he stood back up, feeling a wave of healing magic fall over him. Stira was healing him.
"I see, I got to prove that I can protect." he held his hands up when Nix flipped through the air, the wheel following her as Snow brought up another Steelguard, blocking. Stira was smiling softly as Snow blocked a pirouette before counterattacking, punching the blue skinned woman in the face. Nix skidded backwards but instead of attacking again, she held her hands out, the wheel rising above her and starting to spin faster and faster. Snow watched for a moment before gritting his teeth together and bringing his arms up again, Steelguard washing over him again just as Nix lashed out with her wheel. The attack should have knocked him off his feet, but he held ground. Looking at the two women he snarled.
"Weapon or not. I will not let you hurt those dear to me!" Snow shouted. Nix finally smiled, Stira copying her.
"While we expected a female to be our mistress, we can accommodate. My master." Nix spoke slowly as she and Stira touched hands. Snow watched as their bodies started to glow and disintegrate into crystal dust, he stepped back in surprise when his body absorbed it. Before he could do anything else he felt himself falling backwards as he slipped into unconsciousness.
He woke in the vault, looked around quickly, and then back at the female knight. Only now did the armor look distinctively male. "The knight…" he heard Serah whisper. "It was female, how did it suddenly change like…" she looked at Snow but he couldn't see her with his back turned.
"He was chosen?" the older man muttered, but lost his balance when the Berserker roared and blindly charged at them. Snow spun around on his feet and quickly pushed Serah towards the older gentleman as he held the arm that was wearing the Shiva Ark out before chanting.
"Twin Rulers, arise from your icy thrones. Come forth, sisters of the winter wastes."Snow didn't get a chance to finish because the Berserker was suddenly upon him, crushing the young man and howling out a cry of victory. Serah cried out in despair as the man held her back. The metallic fire monster didn't stop there however, it charged at the freshly transformed suit of armour that was chained to the back wall. The chains broke as it fell, the beast trying to crush it under its foot.
"Snow!" Serah cried out when she saw the young man pushed his way out of the rubble.
"By the grace of Etro, grant me your power! Shiva!"he roared as the emblem on the gloved gauntlet began to glow. The two had to shield their eyes from the light but it had faded as quickly as it had came. Standing in Snow's place was the the Knight.
"The Ice Maiden…" the old man muttered. "No… not anymore… he's a Knight now." he said as the two of them watched the transformed Snow raise his fists at the Berserker. They watched as he shot a straight jab at the monster before following up with a kick. The beast skidded backwards. The Berserker roared as it summoned a floating forged blade. True to it's summoner's name, it was wild and uncontrollable, bringing about even more damage than it's summoner and causing parts of the ceiling to cave when Snow knocked it out of the way. He spun on the ball of his foot when he heard Serah scream, diving towards her just at the right time to take the brute of a boulder that would have otherwise crushed her.
"Snow…"
"I promised I would protect you, Princess." Snow smiled but it couldn't be seen behind the closed helmet his transformed state wore.
"Use your sword boy!" the man roared at him. Snow ignored him and threw another fist at the Berserker.
"A true hero," he slammed an uppercut into the beast. "does not kill!" With a mighty roar he charged headfirst into a tackle and grabbed the beast, slamming it against the wall. It caused more of the stone to come loose, making the place more and more dangerous to fight in. He kept a hold of the beast as he stepped back, noticing the Captain of the Guard run in with some men along with Hope and Vanille. It was getting too crowded now, he couldn't protect everyone.
"The knight is moving?" Captain Noel shouted while his Lieutenant looked back and forth between the Captain and the transformed Snow.
"I thought the armour was supposed to look like a woman!"
"I need to take this fight elsewhere," Snow muttered as he grabbed the Berserker's shield arm and started to pry it away from the body. "I hope they won't make me pay for the damages." he pulled the beast over his shoulder and jumped upwards through the ceiling leaving everyone else dumbfounded.
Vanille, who was just as surprised as Captain Noel when she arrived, couldn't help but shake off a feeling. Was that Snow?
Snow threw the beast off him again and looked around, they were in the destroyed ballroom now. The jump through the stone didn't even seem to faze the metal beast as it attacked him again. Snow blocked with his metal covered arm and lashed out with his other. The beast skidded backwards as Snow charged him, loving how his insane height allowed him to cover ground faster. Tackling into the beast the two of them crashed through the window and into the courtyard. They rolled around for a bit, Snow finding his feet first. He jumped back up as the Berserker recovered, forging a new blade and summoning fire around the Ice Knight. Snow growled as water was released from the cracks in his metal gloves, dousing the flames before they grew even taller.
"Snow!" Vanille's cry was heard as she and the others ran back up to the surface, passing General Garland who was standing in the stairwell. The armoured man watched Princess Serah for a moment before disappearing into the shadows.
"What are you doing boy?" the older man shouted. "Use your sword!" Snow looked over his shoulder and shook his massive head.
"I'll never use a sword!" he roared and charged the beast again, his fists slamming into the head of the already dazed Berserker. Calling upon his ice magics he froze the beast solid. A massive uppercut shattered the beast's head, killing it. Snow stepped back slowly in surprise, probably because he had killed the thing.
"He probably would've been more effective if he used his blade." the old man muttered in defeat as he watched the seven metre tall Eidolon Knight kneel down, fading away back to the nearly seven foot tall Snow Villers. The man looked up suddenly, confused. He looked at his own hands, seeing that the Shiva Ark was gone. Slowly he stood up, looked around, and saw an armband with Shiva's symbol strapped to he bicep. Even the Ark could change it's shape.
Princess Serah's scream broke him out of his daze as he spun around. Everyone else followed suit. At the top of the stairs leading to the castle stood Princess Serah being held back by Colonel Jihl Nabaat and General Garland. The blond woman was chuckling softly as Garland's shoulders heaved with laughter. Snow, not thinking, started to charge towards them but they disappeared, using the long forgotten warp spell.
"Goddammit! SERAH!"" Snow roared as a massive black airship flew over the castle. They had to be on that ship! No doubt about it. He ran to the other end of the courtyard, knowing it was useless as he came to a stop. Staring, Vanille and Hope slowly walked up to stand beside him.
"Serah…" he clenched his hand into a fist. "I'll get you back… I will!"
On that day, souls once parted came together again. It seemed like a mere coincidence, but softly, the wheels of a cruel destiny had already began to turn.